


Dives, Hecko, and Vex

by TooBusyWriting



Series: Pun Wars [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Humor, Rex needs a nap, Shenanigans, The Domino Twins Strike Again, Unexpected Swimming, Unnamed planet, i just love them okay, uhhh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:47:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24500296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TooBusyWriting/pseuds/TooBusyWriting
Summary: "Yes, sir. Sorry, sir."To his right, his ARC troopers walked, where he could keep an eye on them. Not that he didn’t trust Fives and Echo. It was just— Well, to put it simply, they were bored, and when the duo got bored they tended to do...interesting things to cure it.So far, the two had twirled every time they saw one of the native avian species, attempted to parkour their way over sections of the underbrush, attempted to find a certain amount of whatever they picked to spell out their own and other members of Torrent Company’s CT numbers, attempted to make up songs about anything and everything, and probably a few other things Rex hadn’t caught. Currently, they had taken to playing catch with a giant stick Fives had come across on their last break.At least they hadn’t resorted to stepping in each puddle they came across. Yet.-In which Fives goes for a dive, Echo joins the "HECK" squad, and Rex is vexed by Torrent Company.
Relationships: CT-21-0408 | Echo & CT-27-5555 | Fives | ARC-5555, CT-21-0408 | Echo & CT-7567 | Rex, CT-27-5555 | Fives | ARC-5555 & CT-7567 | Rex
Series: Pun Wars [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1770124
Comments: 9
Kudos: 79
Collections: Echo&Fives





	Dives, Hecko, and Vex

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I'm officially graduated from high school! This is the summer I actually write stuff! Right? I was gonna get a job, but quarantine... Well, either way, I'm hoping to get some writing done. Hope you enjoy my first Star Wars fic. Rex isn't usually this outwardly Done, I feel, but it's been a long campaign.

The air was hot and humid, even through helmet filtering. Everywhere was green and brown, from the mud and bushes afoot to the animals in the trees above. The 501st was easily picked out from their surroundings, the blue and white of their armor showing what the leaf coverage could not. Sunshine filtered through the abundant trees, somehow adding to the heat even through layers of leaves and branches. Looking up, the clouds weren’t visible due to said layers, but surely they were there. It had rained the night before, ending just as they started marching again and, if the smell of ozone said anything, they would be expecting more rain sooner rather than later. 

The 501st was on yet another campaign, marching their way through an endless forest, trying to cut off another faction of droids. Five days ago had been the first battle, two days ago a second. They still had yet to encounter Grievous but, with their luck, they’d run into him at this next one. Either way, it was due to happen.

Mixed in with the underbrush and mud was a collection of groundwater. Spread across the landscape at odd intervals, lakes, ponds, and brooks glistened in the sunlight. Some appeared rather large, though whether that was from rain overflow or not was unclear. In addition to these, puddles were strewed across the path, making for even more mud and unclean boots.

Already, the legion had marched klicks on klicks, minimal stops for rest being taken. They’d started at the break of dawn and, while the sun wasn’t visible, it surely had to be high in the sky by then. 

Rex walked along with Torrent Company, leading the way and following the path the scouts had taken. Chatter among the troopers ebbed and flowed amongst the clusters. While they had started out marching in lines, the further they got, the more relaxed the lines became. The droids were approximately a full day out, so he allowed it for the boost of morale it brought.

“Where’s the General, again?” someone behind him asked.

Rex sighed. “He and the Commander are further back in the troops to check supplies among other things, just like the first few times it was mentioned.”

“Yes, sir. Sorry, sir.” 

To his right, his ARC troopers walked, where he could keep an eye on them. Not that he didn’t trust Fives and Echo. It was just— Well, to put it simply, they were bored, and when the duo got bored they tended to do...interesting things to cure it.

So far, the two had twirled every time they saw one of the native avian species, attempted to parkour their way over sections of the underbrush, attempted to find a certain amount of whatever they picked to spell out their own and other members of Torrent Company’s CT numbers, attempted to make up songs about anything and everything, and probably a few other things Rex hadn’t caught. Currently, they had taken to playing catch with a giant stick Fives had come across on their last break.

At least they hadn’t resorted to stepping in each puddle they came across. Yet.

Rex took a deep breath, hoping Kix was close enough if their shenanigans nosedived, literally or figuratively. Force knew it was bound to happen soon.

Almost as if on cue, the stick broke. “Aw, man,” came two disappointed grumbles.

“Wait.” Leave it to Fives to figure something else out. “No, this is still good. We can work on our reflexes better since there’s two of them to catch and throw now.”

“Ah, yes,” Echo agreed. “This is a great way to train and make sure we’re still qualified to be ARC Troopers.”

Rex decided to continue to ignore them as best he could. If he didn’t see it, he didn’t have to deal with it. Even if he was their ori’vod1 and CO. He’d only get involved when Kix needed to as well.

The further they walked, the more ways Echo and Fives came up to toss the sticks. Both at once. Each tossing one at the same time. Front to back, back to front. In the middle of their twirls. Great. Now they were mixing in all the previous things they’d done with the two sticks. Try as he might, they were hard to ignore.

Rex’s comm beeped. Preparing for whatever news the scouts brought, he paused, then answered. “This is Captain Rex.”

“Captain, this is Zeck. You’ve got incoming. We’re not entirely sure what it is, just that it’s expected to land about where you will be when it does land in about 10 minutes.”

Rex’s eyebrows furrowed. “Is it from the Seppies?”

“We can’t tell, sir,” Zeck replied. 

“And why is that?” A pain behind his temple made itself present; Rex needed a nap. Or some caf. Maybe a stim. The stim was more accessible with all the walking they were doing. 

Zeck hesitated, a squawk of something from his comm filtering through. Rex couldn’t tell if it came from a vod2 or not. “It’s moving too fast for us to be able to tell, sir. We were barely able to calculate it’s landing zone, and, given how far behind us the legion is and how fast you are moving, it should land near you. Sorry, sir.” 

Another deep breath. “Alright, I’ll make sure we keep an eye open. I’m guessing you guys are far enough out now to start to look for a resting spot for the night.”

“Yes, sir.” The comm turned off after the affirmation. 

Sure enough, 8 minutes later, a soft whirring slowly faded in, scarcely heard over the footsteps and rustling. Within a minute, it was loud enough to cut off some conversations and draw attention.

Soon enough, it broke the treeline. The opening made from it brought more sunlight through, brightening a section of the forest floor more. With the aid of his rangefinder, the captain was able to finally identify the object.

It was a kriffing _lightsaber_ . More accurately, _Skywalker’s_ kriffing lightsaber.

Zeck had been right; the lightsaber plunged into a lake just to the right of where the troops began to pass. 

“I got it!” 

In an instant, Fives was gone, a splash of water the only mark of where he’d disappeared. Rex stopped walking, offhandedly noticing some of the men around him also halting. Fives could swim, so, as long as he popped up soon, nobody would need to follow him. While they waited, a gentle breeze floated through, rustling the leaves ever so slightly.

Another splash and Fives surfaced. “See? I got it!” he exclaimed, waving his hand, now occupied by the saber. 

Fives pulled himself out of the water, armor now dripping. He was lucky he himself wouldn’t get wet but slippery armor was not ideal, battlefield or not. 

“What the _heck_ , Fives!” Echo exclaimed, grabbing his fellow ARC by the shoulders. A flash of Cody saying the same thing back to him on Rishi crossed Rex’s mind. A sigh escaped him before he could stop it.

Fives glanced behind Echo and Rex could feel the smirk through their buckets. “Don’t worry, Captain. I’m fine. Plus, I was able to grab the General’s saber.

Rex just shook his head. “Jus’ keep walking and don’t slip.”

“Mmh, but this is Fives, sir,” Echo stated, giving Fives a nudge so they could continue to walk together. “I’m not sure if he’s ever been capable of that.”

Fives snorted. “Excuse you, I’m very capable of not slippi—” Down he went, wet shoe having connected with some mud. “I stand corrected.”

Echo put his hands on his hips, standing over the other ARC. “Hurry up and _stand_ up, that’d be great, thanks.” 

Fives pulled himself up, seeing as Echo’s hands stayed resolutely on his hips and not offered to him. “Great, now I have mud all over my armor,” he complained, unsuccessfully trying to wipe mud clumps off his chest plate. All it did was transfer the clumps to his glove and smear what didn’t transfer across his chest.

“That’s what you get for jumping into a lake,” Rex remarked. 

“I’m gonna have to clean it off. Ewwww.” Fives’ face wasn’t visible but Rex could tell his nose was likely scrunched up, brushing off his comment.

It was times like these that Rex questioned why he decided to train ARC Troopers. Granted, tomorrow Echo and Fives were probably going to pull off something to remind him. But at the moment— 

His comm beeped; it was one of the scouts, but noticeably not Zeck this time. He flicked it on.

“Captain, we found a good place to stop for the night.”

“And?” he prompted, feeling there had to be something else.

“Uh, sir, well... How do I put this? Zeck got stuck in a tree, Focus is stuck waist-deep in some mud, and also, I think there are some angry locals on the horizon.”

The first half of this campaign had felt long. If today proved anything, it was that the second half was going to be just as long, if not longer. Rex couldn’t wait to get back on the Resolute and just take a nap. But first, he needed to deal with his scouts, get the laser sword back from Fives and to Skywalker, and make sure he didn’t jump into any more lakes. Unfortunately, the former two were far easier than the latter.

Yeah, he needed a nap.

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. Big brother Back  
> 2\. Brother Back  
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
